Ball valve with flow-rate gauge incorporated directly in the ball

ABSTRACT

The patent concerns a ball valve with a flow-rate gauge incorporated into it, said ball being equipped with a calibrated borehole which constitutes a constriction to the passage of the fluid which passes through the ball. The valve also has two pressure intakes placed before and after the ball respectively, to measure the flow-rate of the fluid that passes through it.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the priority benefit of Italian Application for Patent, Serial No. BS2002A000046, entitled “Ball Valve With Flow-Rate Gauge Incorporated Directly In The Ball,” filed on May 3, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not Applicable.

[0003] 1. Field

[0004] The present invention is related to ball valves, and more particularly to a ball valve which incorporates a flow-rate detector and gauge that makes the reading of information on a device outside the valve.

[0005] 2. Background

[0006] The use of ball valves is well known in the industry. What has not been known is how to read the flow-rate of a fluid inside an on-off valve and in particular a ball valve. To solve this condition and to determine this information, instruments outside the valve have been implemented, however, such an implementation requires complex connections that frequently mean the valve cannot be applied under certain conditions of use. Additionally, such solutions present the inconvenience that the reading of the flow-rate of each single valve is entrusted to a dedicated means of measurement dependent on the fluid which runs through it, both with regard to the type of said fluid, and the quantity of said fluid required for each single specific use.

[0007] Other reading methods for the flow-rate inside the valve have been proposed, such as for example the solution anticipated in the European Patent, Serial No. EP 0671578. In such a situation, however, an alteration of the actual flow-rate occurs as a result of the morphology of the reading instruments and, consequently, the reading itself is inaccurate.

[0008] Therefore, an improvement of the ability to obtain an accurate reading of the valve would be beneficial.

SUMMARY

[0009] The patent concerns a ball valve with a flow-rate gauge incorporated into it, said ball being equipped with a calibrated borehole which constitutes a constriction to the passage of the fluid which passes through the ball. The valve also has two pressure intakes placed before and after the ball respectively, to measure the flow-rate of the fluid that passes through it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and for further details and advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following Detailed Description taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a front view of a cross-section of the ball valve according to the invention;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a top view of the ball valve according to the invention; and

[0013]FIG. 3 is a view of the cross-section of the pressure intakes applied to the ball valve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In the descriptions which follow, like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawings with the same numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and certain figures may be shown in exaggerated or generalized form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.

[0015] Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the ball valve with flow rate gauge is shown. A ball valve 1 is shown in its entirety with 2 outer flanges 2 and 3 that allow the removal for replacement, where necessary, of a ball 4, lodged in position by means of composite annular seals 5. Such a valve is of a well-known type and is equipped with tie-rods 6 which allow for simple and safe dismantling and re-mounting.

[0016] It is anticipated that the valve 1 has a ball 4, operated by means of an pin 7; a restriction 8, having been opportunely machined inside the ball 4, by means of boring the ball so as to achieve a partition 11 which delimits the restriction 8, the afore-mentioned boring emerging as parallel to the axis of the valve. In such a way, the borehole 8 is exactly calibrated so as to obtain a constriction calibrated to the passage of the fluid that runs through the valve, thus making it possible to predetermine an assigned differential value of the pressure between the beginning and the end of the constriction, calibrated with respect to the direction of flow of the fluid.

[0017] Additionally, before and after the ball, there are two pressure intakes, 9 and 10 lodged on to the two outer flanged couplings. These intakes allow for the measuring of the pressure at the beginning and the end of the calibrated restriction with respect to the flow of the fluid and therefore allow for the measurement of the flow-rate by transduction. Said pressure intakes 9 and 10, combined with the symmetry of the tie-rods 6 of the valve, can be axially turned, depending on the flow parameters of the fluid and the type of fluid for which the measurement of the flow-rate must be taken. In the same way, thanks to the presence of the flanged couplings, the ball 4 can be replaced, depending on the characteristics of the fluid, the thermodynamic and the fluid-dynamic characteristics, with a different ball with regard to the size of the calibrated borehole 8.

[0018] The valve 1 can advantageously be equipped with connections for transduction, reading and transmitting of relevant measured flow-rate information, in the same way that an actuator can be also applied directly connected to the pin 7 of the valve 1, for remote activation depending on the measured flow-rate information and, therefore, for its closing or opening in accordance with requirements.

[0019] Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after considering this specification or practicing the disclosed invention. The specification and examples above are exemplary only, with the true scope of the invention being indicated by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A ball valve with a flow-rate gauge incorporated directly in a ball, the ball valve comprising: a ball including a calibrated borehole, wherein the borehole being a constriction to the passage of a fluid that passes through the ball.
 2. The ball valve of claim 1 further comprising: a first and second flange; tie-rods, wherein the dismantling of the ball valve and the replacement of the ball with another ball possibly with a different calibrated borehole.
 3. The ball valve of claim 2 further comprising two pressure intakes placed respectively before and after the ball to measure the flow-rate of the fluid which passes through the ball valve.
 4. The ball valve of claim 3, wherein the two pressure intakes can be rotated after the dismantling of the ball valve to allow the measurement of the flow-rate.
 5. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of a gas.
 6. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of a liquid.
 7. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of fluids with different dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics.
 8. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of the flow rate of a gas.
 9. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of the flow rate of a liquid.
 10. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of the flow rate of fluids with different dynamic and thermodynamic characteristics.
 11. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of fluids with different dynamic characteristics.
 12. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of fluids with different thermodynamic characteristics.
 13. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of the flow rate of fluids with different dynamic characteristics.
 14. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of the flow rate of fluids with different thermodynamic characteristics.
 15. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of a solid.
 16. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of the flow rate of a solid.
 17. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate.includes measurement of any substance capable of flowing.
 18. The ball valve of claim 4, wherein the measurement of the flow rate includes measurement of the flow rate of any substance capable of flowing. 